How Bad Is Salt For Your Heart?

Salt is essential for the proper functioning of the nerves, muscles, and fluid balance. However, high salt intake can have adverse effects on our body and affect vital organs like heart, kidney, etc. The best way to improve cardio-related conditions is by consuming less amount of salt.

In case the sodium level is too high, you feel excessively thirsty, and the blood vessels absorb more water. This, in turn, hikes your blood pressure rate, which worsens your cardio failure symptoms. When your heart fails to pump properly, it results in weight gain, fluid buildup, swelling, and bloating. To keep all those under control, you need to control the level of sodium in your diet.

Are you wondering how much salt can you consume? In this post, we will talk about how much salt is safe to consume for your heart and how to reduce the intake.

Why Should You Limit Salt Intake?

Sodium is a mineral that is present in salt. It helps in maintaining the healthy balance of the fluids present in your body. However, patients with cardio failure symptoms must follow a diet with low sodium. Limiting sodium intake decreases the presence of extra fluids around the lungs, heart, and legs. Wondering how the excess fluid in the body can impact your health? Well, it makes your heart pump harder, thereby increasing the blood pressure levels.

The other health concerns related to high salt consumption are the following:

Stroke.
Osteoporosis.
Oedema or fluid retention.
Kidney failures.

Apart from these, it will make you vulnerable to various viruses. At present high salt consumption patients should be careful and take good care as they are easy targets to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Any individual can get affected by the present SARS-CoV-2 virus, but some patients are more vulnerable. This includes patients with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and kidney diseases. High consumption of sodium may increase blood pressure. This increases the risk of COVID-19 complications. Hence, it’s advisable to take medications to lower your blood pressure levels and keep yourself safe and maintain social distancing.

How Much Salt Can You Consume?

Are you suffering from congestive heart failure conditions? If so, limit the sodium content in your dietary plan to less than 5 g in a day, which is around 1 teaspoon. Studies show that most individuals consume roughly 9 g of sodium daily, which is almost double the recommended levels.

You need to note that different varieties of salt, such as rock salt, pink Himalayan salt, table salt, sea salt, and black salt, all contain sodium content. This is because sodium is a major component of salt, and extensive amounts can impact your health. The best way to cut down the levels is by purchasing fresh foods and cooking them at home.

What Are The High Sodium Level Foods?

Most individuals do not realize that 70 – 80% of the sodium intake in your diet comes from meals prepared in restaurants and packaged and processed foods. This may come as a surprise to you as some of the food items do not even have a salty taste to it. Let’s have a look at the items that contribute to the high sodium level in your diet.

Poultry, meat, and other processed meat items.
Burgers, pizza, cakes, biscuits, muffins, and other pastry items.
Pickles, sauces, noodles, and pasta dishes.
Breakfast items, bread, and items made from grains and cereals

Sodium Guidelines:

For patients with health issues, your medical physician may advise you to consume not more than 2 g of sodium in a day. To reduce the intake, you can follow the below steps:

Avoid using the saltshaker.
Go through the food label values.
Try to make sensible choices while eating out.

Getting rid of the saltshaker from your dining table might be a good start. However, you need to note that most of the sodium content comes from processed items. Hence, it’s essential to keep a record of your daily sodium intake. Make it a point to write down the levels in mg after your snack or after each meal.

Low Sodium Foods That You Can Try

Your grocery stores have lots of low salt options that will enable you to create a healthy- heart dietary plan. Try incorporating it into your meals and make it a daily eating habit.

Meat:

Meat products that are canned, smoked, or cured contain high sodium levels. The same goes for processed items such as bacon, salami, ham, hot dogs, and lunch meat. Instead of opting for this, purchase frozen or fresh beef, fish, pork, or chicken that you will be able to cook at your kitchen and season it as you like.

Fruits and vegetables:

Try purchasing either fresh vegetables and fruits or frozen items. However, make sure that it does not contain any added seasonings, sauces, or even butter. These healthy food items are naturally low in sodium levels and help in improving your cardio health.

Beans:

It’s advisable to purchase dried beans so that you can cook at home, thereby controlling the amount of salt that goes into the dish. In case you’re planning to go for canned beans, check the label to make sure that it does not contain any salt. You can also rinse them thoroughly before you consume them to get rid of any extra salt present.

Rice, pasta, and other grains:

Avoid going for pre-seasoned grains, rice or pasta instead opt for whole grains. This includes wild or brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, couscous or quinoa.

Cereals:

Wish to include healthy choices for your breakfast? Try having shredded wheat and oatmeal. By choosing the plain type of cereals, you will be able to dress them up with your choice before eating them, such as nuts, fruits, and chocolates. Planning to grab a pack of cold cereals from the store? If so, check out the Nutrition Facts label to find ones with 5% sodium or lesser DV.

Dairy products:

Yogurt, milk, and other dairy items have no sodium content naturally. However, if you plan to go for butter and cheese, check the label for no salt or low salt options.

Snacks:

Wish to snack on between meals, but worried about the sodium content present in snacks? Try opting for unsalted crackers, popcorn, nuts, and pretzels.

Steps to put a check on your salt intake

Follow the below pointers so that you can monitor the level of salt intake daily.

Avoid having too much light salts foods::

Some food items that contain salt substitutes will have table salt present in them. If you consume them too much, it’s equivalent to having excessive sodium content. Most of these items contain potassium chloride that can cause issues for patients suffering from heart conditions.

Try using spices and herbs for seasoning your meals:

Guess what, you can enhance the flavor of your meals without even touching the saltshaker. All you have to do is include a variety of spices and herbs such as Ginger, red or black pepper, cardamom, rosemary, sage, then, or citrus cyst or juice.

Read food labels:

Look out for ingredients list or indications about the salt content. This includes:

Sodium free – less than 5mg sodium per serving.
Very less sodium – less than 35mg per serving.
Reduced sodium – 25% less sodium per serving.
Light sodium – 50% less sodium per serving.

Take it slowly:

It may take around 6 to 8 weeks to adjust to a low sodium diet. Make changes gradually daily and try to remain patient to see the effects.

Conclusion

Salt is an essential part of your diet; however, too much can impact your cardio health. Hence it’s advisable to decrease the salt intake and continue doing so. Over time, your taste buds will slowly adopt the changes.